As expected, former National Security Advisor John Bolton has pleaded guilty to one charge of unauthorized possession of a document related to national defense. By doing this, he avoids the other 17 charges he was facing, but the one charge could carry a significant penalty.
Former White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pleaded guilty on Friday to only one count of an 18-count indictment, but he will not be sentenced today.
During a hearing at the federal district court in Greenbelt, Maryland, Bolton pleaded guilty to the twelfth count, alleging he had unauthorized possession of a document related to national defense.
The count typically has a maximum penalty of 10 years behind bars, but both sides agreed that five years will be the most prison time that can be imposed.
Given Bolton's age (77), that's a significant stretch of jail time. There are also pecuniary penalties:
A prosecutor from the Department of Justice told Judge Theodore Chuang that Bolton also faces a fine of $2.25 million, half of which should be paid within 5 days, a required debrief with a U.S. intelligence committee, three years of supervised release and up to 100 hours of community service. Bolton agreed that he would not get an annuity or retirement from his federal service.
By pleading guilty, he waived his right to appeal the sentence and conviction. However, Bolton will be allowed to withdraw his guilty pleas before sentencing. That window will close once the sentencing phase concludes.
Chuang has up to 90 days to hand down a sentence, according to NBC News.
Bolton has been given a much shorter time frame, 100 hours, to remediate the improper disclosure of classified information.
Bolton reportedly retained the classified documents to aid him in writing his memoirs; it's belaboring the obvious to note that he should have known better.
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John Bolton worked in the first Trump administration as National Security Advisor from 2018 to 2019. Before that, he was the United States Ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, and had served as a United States Assistant Attorney General under President Reagan, from 1985 to 1989, and as the Assistant Secretary of State for international organization affairs from 1989 to 1993. He was an outspoken advocate for the 2003 war with Iraq.
The indictment involved not only retention of classified documents, but the disclosure of classified information:
Many of the documents were labeled "TOP SECRET," according to prosecutors.
"From on or about April 9, 2018, through at least on or about August 22, 2025, BOLTON abused his position as National Security Advisor by sharing more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities as the National Security Advisor — including information relating to the national defense which was classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level—with two unauthorized individuals," the indictment read.
Sentencing has now been set for October 28.
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